First published 2025
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore expected an eight-day trip to the International Space Station in June 2024. Technical problems with their Boeing Starliner capsule changed everything. The astronauts found themselves stuck in orbit for nine months instead of just over a week. Anderson chronicles their original NASA partnership and the mission that went wrong. She details the technical failures that prevented their return and how Williams and Wilmore adapted to extended life aboard the ISS. The biography follows their daily routines in space and the ground efforts to bring them home safely. Their adventure finally ended in March 2025 when they splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Dolphins welcomed them back to Earth as friends and family celebrated their return to Florida. Anderson captures both the technical challenges of space travel and the human story of two astronauts who made the best of an unexpected situation.
Genres: biography, adventure, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unexpected-situation
Setting: Florida, Gulf of Mexico, International Space Station
Period: 2024, 2025
56 pages · Library Binding · Penguin Workshop